Rice: Netanyahu's objections to Iran deal 'premature'

National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should hold back his criticism of any proposed interim deal on Iran's nuclear program until such an agreement is finalized.

"I think it's important that everybody understand what the deal is that needs to be reached and then they can make a judgment on its contours," Rice said at the Washington Ideas Forum in Washington, D.C.

Asked by Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson if Netanyahu didn't understand the deal before issuing his harsh attack on it last week, Rice did not mention Netanyahu by name but indicated that he did not.

"Well it's not done, so by definition it's premature to judge it because the outlines have yet to be finalized," she said.

Rice said any pact would ensure Iran's nuclear program doesn't advance while the agreement is in effect.

"Any deal that we would accept is going to be one that we would have confidence is in our interests and the interests of our allies and partners in the region and beyond, that gives us clarity and confidence that the Iranians cannot make any progress and indeed will see their program [set] back while negotiations continue," she said.

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Rice's remarks.

Meanwhile, in other interviews Wednesday, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes sought to downplay earlier Iran-related disagreements with the French by insisting conspicuously in the present tense that France and the United States are now in agreement about how to proceed.

Speaking on CNN about a phone call between President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande earlier in the day, Rhodes said: "Coming out of that conversation between President Obama and President Hollande, the United States has a unified position with France going into the next round of negotiations."

"Particularly with France and the United Kingdom right now on the same page, going to the table, the onus is going to be on the Iranians to make sure they meet our concerns," Rhodes added.

On Capitol Hill a short time later, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took to the Senate floor to criticize the deal reportedly on the table during talks in Geneva last week and to insist that any future deal with Iran include rock-solid assurances that the country stop enriching uranium.

McCain denounced what he called "a bad, bad, bad interim deal with Iran."

"To get an agreement for the sake of an agreement would be, in my view, a disaster," he said.

While there has been talk by some Senate Democrats to delay action on new sanctions, Graham said lawmakers of both parties on Capitol Hill are clearheaded about the dangers posed by Iran and about how airtight any interim deal with Tehran must be.

"The Congress has not been confused. We're more together on this issue than we’ve ever been," Graham said. "This is a moment of history. This is the biggest decision President Obama will make."

Graham also warned that a flexible deal that allows Iran to continue enriching uranium and building a Plutonium-based plant would be disastrous. "That would be incredibly dangerous. You’ll wake up one day with a North Korea in the Mideast," he said.